Wounds Heal, But Scars Never Quite Fade
by klaineismylife88
Summary: I'm not great at summaries but I'll do my best - Lee is a new actor on glee. Darren is assigned to help her out in during first couple of weeks. But Lee has a secret and he wants find out whats going on. First couple of chapters will be T but might get M for later...
1. New Girl

_**This is my first fic - I am a massive glee fan but I prefer writing about the actors rather than the characters. *shrug* anyway please enjoy and reviews/comments are welcome :) **_

* * *

Darren looked over to the corner table where his phone was buzzing at him. His little jam session he had allowed himself now disturbed, he picked up the phone and keyed in his pass code.

_Can you come to my trailer, I need you for something_. He read this, frowning slightly. It was from Ryan. He put down his guitar and ran a hand through his short curls. He was still deciding whether he regretting cutting off half of his mop of hair for glee. Maybe he was just trying to make it easier for hair and make-up – they had to use so much gel to get it all down before he had got it cut. _I'm just that nice a guy_, he thought to himself, smiling slightly. He pulled his jeans up slightly, noticing that they had started to fall down more and more recently. I need to find more time to eat, he thought, wondering how Chris managed it – he had a billion different things on the go at the moment. He placed his hand on the handle, turning it to open the metal door. He stepped out and turned left, taking the short walk over to Ryan's trailer. He felt the slight breeze ruffling his t-shirt as he strode over, opening the door easily. Inside he saw Ryan sitting at his desk, wearing a hat indoors (why?) opposite from a woman that was leaning over the desk, writing on something. The older man waved at him, but neither said anything to let the woman concentrate. From what Darren could tell she was in her mid-twenties, mixed race with brown hair that was straight, stopping at her shoulders. She was staring intently as the paper on the desk, reading every word and nodding to herself as she picked up the pen in her right hand and scribbled her signature at the bottom.

"Thank you Leanne" she passed the contract over the table to him. Ryan motioned to Darren "this is Darren – he'll show you around a stuff before you get started. Darren, this is Leanne Summers and she will be joining the New Directions as a main character" she got up, turning towards him and Darren was immediately struck by her dark chocolate coloured eyes.

"It's nice to meet you Leanne" he said, holding out a hand

"Just Lee is fine" she responded, shaking his slightly calloused hand with her smaller one. Darren raised an eyebrow slightly, realising that this woman was British

"Darren Criss"

"Her trailer is next to yours" the younger man nodded "this week's timetable should be tacked to the outside of your door by now."

"Come on" Darren said, leading the way out of the trailer. He noticed her tugging slightly at the ends of her sleeves but ignored this as nervousness. Once they were outside he spoke again "so how did you end up on glee? You can't have been on the Project, I would have seen you"

"Well I like to sing and sometimes I just do it unconsciously" Lee pronounced all of her words perfectly, her voice was light and even. "I was doing some washing up in my first floor flat near an open window. Mr Murphy heard me as he was walking past and rang up. The rest is history." She said shrugging slightly. Darren frowned, absorbing her words.

"Can you dance?"

"Yes. I was never taught, I just can I suppose" Darren stopped walking at the metal trailer that stood next to his own

"This is you" Lee reached out a picked the piece of paper of the glass window in the door. Darren moved closer to her to see what was on the page. She traced her finger over the lines in the table

"So I have to be in the dance studio in half an hour. And after that I have scene rehearsal in 'rehearsal space 4'. Where is that?" she asked

"I'm in the same scene. Knock on my trailer when you are ready to go and I'll show you the way there" the young woman nodded at him.

"Thank you Darren. I will see you in rehearsal" she turned away, opening the door and slipping in quietly. Darren made his way back to his trailer, grabbing his guitar and sitting down to practice the new song Ryan had told him that he would be performing next week.

* * *

Three hours later, Lee found herself standing at Darren's door, knocking quietly. She was tired from all the dancing and constant moving about she had been doing in the last few hours. Darren got up and opened his door so see Lee standing on his doorstep, wearing a long sleeve top and jeans, despite it being the middle of summer – he was wearing shorts and a t-shirt.

"You ready to go?" lee nodded. They took several turns between trailers and into a large main building, Darren leading slightly. When they entered Darren was greeted by Melissa, Chord, Jenna and Matthew.

"Hey guys, this is Lee. She's new"

"I gathered" said Jenna. "Here is the episode's script" she handed the pair some sheafs of paper – Lee noticed that Darren's had several more pages than hers did. She looked down at the page – her character's name was Clara Jones. The first few pages were background information on her character – English exchange student aged 18, mostly did not speak to anyone but was caught singing by herself after school in an empty classroom by Blaine. Her first song was 'Hometown Glory' by Adele. She was lucky she already knew that song. She looked up to see the others watching her.

"Is something wrong?" she asked and everyone but Darren frowned at her

"Where are you from?" Matthew asked

"I currently live in Los Angeles but I grew up in London" the others shrugged.

"Ok let's get started" said a voice behind them, Ryan and another man entering the room. It took them two hours to get through a couple of scenes, all of them learning new lines and putting them together with actions. This was especially confusing for Lee, but the others were exceptionally supportive and helped her through it all. In the first scene she was standing by a desk, her character probably thinking about missing her family. The piano quietly started up from a speaker in the corner and she started to sing. Tina and Chord's eyebrows nearly shot right off their heads. Darren did his best to stay in character as he stood by the 'door' and watched her for the next verse. By the end her head was swimming with lines and choreography and she was exhausted. On her way back her trailer Darren came up behind her.

"Hey Lee" she turned around to face him "err. Do you want to get coffee some time?" lee raised an eyebrow.

"Sure" Darren smiled in relief

"Awesome. When is your first day off?"

"I finish at midday on Thursday. How about after that?"

"Sounds good"

"Alright then, I'll see you then" Darren saw her smile for the first time and he couldn't help but smile back.


	2. Painful Truths

**_Ok, so this chapter is much longer than the first one. I am going to warn you now it gets a little bit angsty towards the end. I think there is going to be some smut next chapter so we will see how that turns out..._**

* * *

A couple of days later Lee was following Darren through the streets of Hollywood, towards some place that he had said was more private rather them being mobbed in Starbucks. They walked up to the counter

"Hey Darren, it's nice to see you, what can I get you today?" asked the woman at the counter

"Hi Helen it's nice to see you too." He smiled at her "I'll have the usual" he turned to look at Lee "what do you want?"

"Just a cappuccino please"

"Alrighty then, just give me a couple of minutes and I will bring those over" Darren smiled in thanks and lead Lee to a corner booth in the mostly empty coffee shop. They both sat down and started to talk. They chatted for a while about Glee and some other TV shows. Their coffee came and they lapsed into silence and Lee sipped from her mug

"Tell me something that I won't know about you" lee put down her cup

"Erm. I have a masters in applied Biology. I am half Jamaican. What about you?"

"I speak Italian"

"Ooohh, I speak French and a little German. I can read Latin and Greek as well"

"Wow" Darren still had a question burning in the back of his head. Lee frowned at him slightly; she could see something in his hazel eyes "Its boiling outside. You always walk around in long sleeves and stuff. Aren't you hot?" he saw her face change for a second and slip back to a neutral expression. She hoped he hadn't seen anything.

"In half Jamaican, I don't really do hot" Darren's eyes searched her face for anything else but there was nothing. Neither said anything for a couple of minutes and they drank in silence.

"So how old are you if you don't mind me asking?" he asked, changing the subject

"I am 24 – I got my degree a couple of months ago. I want to get my PHD eventually"

"Really?"

"Yeah. I'm trying to set a good example for my little sister"

"Where is she right now?" he asked, leaning his chin in hand, resting his elbow on the table

"She's six years younger than me. She is in her last year of school at the moment" Darren did some mental addition

"So she's 18?"

"Yes. She wants to be a marine biologist – she loves to swim. And she's smarter than she thinks"

"Now that is a cool job. Being an actor seems kind of crap in comparison" lee smiled slightly "do you miss your family?"

"When I first came over here I missed them a lot – my family are amazing. They are just so wonderful and supportive. Over time I got over it. I still miss them but so does anyone that spends time away from the people they love." She shrugged slightly "I still make a point of skyping them or ringing them up when I can. Although with this new schedule it is going to be a bit harder. When I told my parents I was going to be on the show my mum screamed. And my dad just sighed – he thinks glee is a waste of time"

"That's a shame."

"I'm not about to argue with him – it's too much effort. He is as stubborn as a wall"

"I grew up in San Francisco – I miss it there. Not the weather, just being at home. The weather was rubbish"

"London's weather isn't really any better. It rains for two thirds of the year. And then I come here and its sunny nearly 24/7" Darren laughed. Several short beeps came from Lee's bag. "Sorry. Let me just get that" she pulled out her phone and fiddled with it, opening the email from Ryan. Then she opened the attachment. "Bugger" she muttered to herself

"Are you alright?" Darren asked

"What? Oh yeah I'm fine" he noticed her composure slipping slightly. She made a mental note to speak to Ryan before the weekend because they started filming next week. She dropped her phone back into her bag and set her features to something approaching a smile

"What was that about?" asked Darren feeling a bit nosy

"Nothing. But I need to go and speak to Ryan. Sorry. I'll see you later" the older man frowned at her and then smiled

"Ok. Have a nice weekend" Lee hurried off out of the coffee shop and down the road

"Are you alright there sweetie?" asked Helen, coming over to sit where lee had been only moments ago

"Yeah"

"She seems nice"

"She is nice"

"New character?"

"Yeah. Main as well. Ryan picked her on a whim. She's an amazing singer" Helen's eyes narrowed

Slightly

"You like her don't you!"

"No! Well yeah! But no!" Darren got flustered, his words tripping over themselves. Helen laughed at him

"You deserve someone nice."

"I only met her a week ago – don't jump to possible futures"

"But a week on glee is like knowing someone for a month – seriously, you guys spend 20 hours a day with each other" she was right. Everyone worked, ate, dance and sang together and this meant that they got to know each other quicker over a shorter period of time.

"There is something different about her" he said more to himself than to Helen, but she replied anyway

"I saw it too. It is 90 degrees out there and she's walking around in long sleeves like she's covering up."

"She's half Jamaican; she says that she doesn't get hot"

"Then she's lying to you. There is no way that she can't be hot."

"Well she obviously doesn't want to talk about it so I won't push it" Helen shrugged

"Fine, whatever. I think you two would be cute together" she said, getting up and making her way back to her station as she saw customers walk in.

Meanwhile back on Glee, Lee had made it to Ryan's trailer. When she knocked on the door she heard his voice

"Come in" she opened the door

"Oh hey Lee. Isn't this your time off?"

"Yes but I need to talk to you."

"Oh yeah, did you get my email?"

"Yes. Um, I can't wear that outfit next week"

"Why?" she frowned, not wanting to give him the real reason "is something wrong Lee?" she took a deep breath

"We have complete confidentiality in here don't we?"

"Yes?" the statement more of a question "why?" lee sighed and put down her bag. Then she started to roll up her right sleeve. The first half of her forearm looked relatively normal. There was a dark line running along the inside that looked like a burn mark

"That was an accident involving an iron". Ryan nodded, still not sure what she was supposed to be showing him. She pulled the sleeve further up, the blue cotton reaching her elbow and then his eyes caught sight of the scars running all over her elbow and up her arm all the way to her shoulder. He could see her hand shaking and how her eyes couldn't look at him or her arm

"Did you make those?" he asked quietly

"No!"

"Then wh-"

"I don't want to talk about it" she pulled the sleeve back down "the clothes have to be long sleeved, I don't want people knowing about this." Ryan steepled his fingers

"Fine. I'll talk to the clothing department. Are there anymore?"

"I have to wear trousers. If I really have to wear a skirt it will have to be with thick tights or leggings"

"Thank you for telling me. But don't you think you should tell the others?" lee shook her head, picking up her bag.

"Please don't tell anyone" she asked

"I won't. Please go and enjoy the rest of your day"

Two months later and Clara Jones was singing 'Killing me Softly with his Song", the version done by the Fugees to go with a montage of a previous boyfriend back in England before she had come to America as an exchange student. There was a lot of emotion in this song as Lee had to dig deep into old wounds to get enough for this performance. At the end of the montage was a clip that showed her getting chased and hinted towards her getting beaten up by a bunch of bitchy cheerleaders after school but they didn't need her for the second part of that, all they really needed were the red and white Cheerios. When the final cut was announced Darren let out a breath he hadn't realised that he had been holding – the emotions on set had been strained for everyone. He could see the pain in Leanne's eyes and could tell that she hadn't needed to act during that song. She walked slowly off stage and as soon as she thought no one was looking she ran off to her trailer. Darren was held up by Chris wanting to chat about their new duet and the spoke for several minutes until the latter was pulled off by Lea needing to practice a New York scene. He made his way off set and over to Lee's trailer. He knocked on the metal door

"hey lee? Are you in there?" there was no reply but he heard sniffling and maybe a sob.

"Lee, I know you're there. Let me in!"

"go away Darren" she shouted back, her voice strained

"please Lee. I want to help"

"you can't!"

"if I don't try how will I know?" he asked, pointing out the obvious. He heard a sigh and then some shuffling about. The handle turned at the door opened revealing a distraught, shaking version of lee. Darren stepped in a reached out, taking her hand and pulling her into a hug. Darren didn't claim to know every detail of Leanne's life but he would comfort her as much as he could. She released him first, looking down at her shoes "are you going to be ok?" he asked, concern filling his hazel eyes. Lee wiped her eyes not answering "come on. you are coming home with me. we'll watch some terrible TV and eat pizza." He grabbed her hand and pulled her along out of the trailer and into his car. The drive from the set was only twenty minutes and it was spent in silence, Darren concentrating on driving through the traffic and Lee staring out of the window, replaying the memories in her head. Darren stopped and got out, opening the door for Lee so that she could step out. He walked up the step and unlocked the front door, letting her in first. The house wasn't huge but it was well furnished and a little messy. Darren walked in, locking the door behind him and gesturing to her to sit anywhere. He went into the kitchen and found the microwave pizza's in his fridge, shoving them in without really thinking. He leaned through a door way to see Lee sitting on his sofa, her eyes staring at nothing – he noticed that she had taken her shoes off upon entry. A few minutes later the appliance beeped and took out the pizza's cutting them into slices and then dividing them between plates. He carried them in.

"here" he passed her a plate and sat next to her picking up a slice. They sit in silence as they eat – Lee not finished half of the pizza before she puts down her plate on the coffee table. Darren noticed her left hand playing up and down her right arm – it reminded him of playing the violin, the fingers making similar shapes. She caught him watching her

"double bass" she said quietly. Darren put down his plate and adjusted his position. He leaned back against the arm of the couch, pulling Lee until her head is resting on his chest and her legs were curled up beneath her. his fingers started to run through her hair absent mindedly, trying to sooth her. lee's eyes close slowly, her thoughts ordering themselves for the first time in the last few hours. "Neither talks. Neither needs to. Darren was going to wait until she was ready to talk – he would wait until the rapture if he needed to.

"I was 17" lee murmured, her voice low but nervous. "I was in my last year of school and it was mid-October" Darren keeps himself relaxed, aware that if he got anxious she would shut him out. "I was on my way home from school. There was an alleyway that I used as a shortcut to get back to my house rather than go all the way around. I lived in quite a safe area so I wasn't really worried about through there." She paused, taking a deep, shuddering breath "I was kidnapped. There were four or five of them. They knocked me unconscious and when I woke up I had no idea where I was. They beat the living shit out of me" Darren wrapped his free arm around her waist, holding her closer to him. Lee's hand snuck out to fiddle with his fingers as she continued to speak. "I spent the entire time swimming in and out of consciousness. They broke some bones and they cut…." She paused, tears dripping down her face and onto Darren's t-shirt "they cut everywhere. They had their fun with me. I was…" her voice trailed off not able to say the word.

"what?" he spoke for the first time trying to gently coax the information out of her

"I was raped" she whispered, squeezing her eyes shut, sobbing quietly. He dropped a little kiss on the top of her head, resting his chin onto her hair. I was gone for three days. "They dropped be where they had found me. they had left me in my clothes but they were ripped up. They had taken all of my valuables and money. Most of my school books and stuff were torn up or burnt. I couldn't walk properly afterwards – all the cuts and bruises meant my legs were really weak. I had to get a stranger to help me. my mum had been at a big work summit in Singapore at the time and my sister was on a week residential adventure course in wales so only my dad was at home. I had to ask some random bloke to run home and get my dad. They rang an ambulance and I had to spend a week or so in hospital. Doing that song with the bit at the end where Clara gets taken. It just made me remember what happened" Darren understood what she was talking about. They often discussed the motives behind their characters actions – how to infuse extra bits of emotion into people that they had never met but knew everything about. It was hard to separate yourself from the character you play, trying to pretend the emotions weren't your own. He couldn't stop himself though, his own tears trickling down his face as he clutches at Lee, pulling her into him.

"I'm sorry" he said quietly. she didn't respond to this. They sat like this for a long time, one crying much more than the other. Darren was happy that he had seen there was more to her song than just that. But he was sad that because of that she was now lying on his chest, his t shirt soaked with her tears. Lee eventually quieted down, her breathing occasionally hitching but managing to pull herself under control.

"thank you" she whispered.

"I think you should tell the others" lee's body stiffened in his arms.

"why?"

"how many people know what actually happened to you besides me?"

"my parents and one very close friend. Her name was Molly"

"do you consider us as your friends?"

"well yes" she shrugged

"at glee we are all part of our own little community. We don't keep secrets. The others have been wondering why you always wear long sleeves. We all trust each other." She let out a long breath

"you really think so?"

"yeah"

"maybe"

"please? For me?" she smiled sadly

"ok"


	3. Learning to Trust

THIS CHAPTER IS RATED M FOR SMUT! so if you don't want to read it, then don't go past the half way mark... if you do like the idea of a very naked darren criss then wohoo! you are my new best friend... please review!

* * *

It was a week later and Darren had managed to assemble everyone in the dance studio facing Lee . All of the cast were there along with the producers and choreographers. Lee was sitting cross legged on a chair next to Darren as she told her story. By the end he could see that she was gritting her teeth to stop herself from crying. He could see that some of the cast had not managed this feat – some of the girls and Chris were clinging onto each other as she finished talking, tears running down their skin. Melissa got up first, walking over and pulling Lee into a hug. This acted as a catalyst, everyone getting up and joining in. Eventually everyone let go and left, back to their trailers or one of the other studios. Darren moved over and held her close and realised that she was exactly the same height as he was.

"you were so brave just then" he said into her ear

"thank you" she said into his shoulder. he let her go, his hand just playing with hers.

"what is your favourite song?" Lee 's eyebrows knitted together

"why?"

"I always said that you can determine what type of person you are by your favourite song"

"As Yet Untitled by Terrance Trent D'arby"

"I don't know that song"

"if you are lucky I'll sing it for you one day. In the mean time you can YouTube it" Darren smirked. He looked into the pools of chocolate that were level with his own, just taking in the details of her face. How she stared back into his hazel eyes, not flinching or looking away. The slight edge of bone in the middle of her nose, the curve of her pink lips and her long eyelashes. In the back of his mind he registered that his hand had stopped playing with hers, it was just holding on.

"i-I need to go" Lee stammered a little, almost snatching her hand away from his and walking off quickly. Darren nearly said something but the words caught in his throat. His palm hit his forehead

"idiot" he muttered to himself. the rest of that day's filming was a little awkward. It was a group scene in the choir room and Lee couldn't look at him.

Later that day, Lee was sitting in her flat that she shared with a roommate, sewing up the hem on a pair of trousers while quietly singing to herself. Her roommate was on holiday for the next month in Portugal so Lee was enjoying a little piece and quiet. A buzz came from the intercom. Putting down her trousers, she got up and walked over to the wall.

"hello?"

"Lee it's me. can you let me in?" Darren's voice crackled through the tiny speaker. Leanne sighed

"sure" she pressed the button. A moment later there was a knock on her door. She opened it to see Darren standing on her doorstep in jeans and a t-shirt. Lee started to say something but then there Darren was, his warm lips covering her own, firm but gentle at the same time. His tongue slid over her lips and she gasped giving him access to slip into her mouth. His tongue was wet and smooth, sweeping around her mouth until he broke away, leaving a light kiss on her slightly parted lips. Lee 's eyes flickered open when he let go – they had been closed the entire time

"I'm not about to say sorry for that" Lee looked like a stunned goldfish for a moment, not saying a word.

"this isn't going to work" she said quietly. Darren's hand touched her arm

"why?"

"you don't know what I look like" he frowned at her "I mean under the clothes. I look horrible" he took her face in his hands, quickly kissing her

"I don't care" he said, looking into her eyes

"you will. Others have"

"I'm not others" he pointed out "we'll take it slow, I promise" Lee said nothing and Darren took this as a yes, sweeping in for another kiss. Lee responded, her arms wrapping around his shoulders. Darren placed a hand on the nape of her neck, trying to pull her face closer, the other holding onto her waist.

Lee was in her trailer two weeks later, practicing lines when there was a knock.

"come in" she said loudly. The door was opened by Chris Colfer "hi Chris" she said, looking up from the page "what's up?"

"can we talk?"

"sure" she said shrugging, motioning to a chair. he sat down, crossing his legs and looking at her

"I know"

"about what?" Lee acted dumb

"you know what. You and Darren"

"there is nothing going on between Darren and I"

"please Lee . I'm gay – I saw it a mile away. The only reason I haven't said anything yet is because I have been busy filming in New York" she sighed to herself

"fine"

"how long?"

"just a couple of weeks"

"Had sex yet?" Lee slapped his arm

"You can't just ask me that!" she paused "But no"

"why?"

"what do you mean 'why'? It's only been two weeks"

"well Darren is hot. I mean I have no interest in him, but I can appreciate his looks" Lee annoyed herself by giggling slightly "how far have you gotten? First, second base?" lee frowned at him

"I don't get how the 'base' system works. To answer your question, he lost his shirt once. That is about it"

"look Lee, I know how shy you are about some of the scars you have but Dare is a great guy. He his understanding and I can tell how much he cares about you. At least tell everyone else that you two are going out. You two are good for each other, I can see it" Lee smiled at him.

"thanks Chris" that afternoon, once they had finished filming she pulled Darren aside kissed him gently. About five people cheered loudly, alerting the others to the event. Both Darren and Lee were blushing as the others crowded around them, questions coming from every corner. it took a while for everyone to dissipate but once they were gone Darren took hold of her hand

"what was that for?" he asked as they walked back to their trailers

"Chris talked some sense into me"

"he knew?"

"yeah" she shrugged slightly "he was very… forward" Darren frowned

"really? What did he say?" Lee blushed again, the colour barely discernible on her cappuccino coloured skin

"he asked if we had had sex yet" Darren blushed as well. He coughed awkwardly and Lee averted her gaze from his own.

"hey you guys" came a voice behind them "I need you to sign something for me" the pair turned around to see Ryan coming towards them. They followed him to his trailer where he passed them some pieces of paper "these are new contracts" the pair frowned at each other

"are these for everyone?" Darren asked, his eyes scanning the page. Lee was reading intently

"no they are just for you two"

"hm" came from the young woman

"what is it?" Darren asked.

"this contract is to stop our personal relationship affecting our jobs and to make sure that we don't have sex at work" she said, raising an eyebrow at Ryan.

"you need to worry Ryan. We are professionals"

"can you sign it anyway. It's just a precaution" lee looked at a Darren and then shrugged, pulling out a pen and scrawling her signature on the line. She passed the pen to Darren and he did the same.

"thanks guys. And well done – we got a lot done today" the pair nodded. They made their way out of the trailer and Darren found himself tangling his fingers with Lee's.

"Well hey there" she said, shifting closer to him so that their shoulders touched.

"Do you want to get some dinner?"

"I'd love to" she smiled.

Darren was taking his time with Leanne. It had been three months. She was a difficult nut to crack, and he was slowly making his way past her defences. He had caught her once washing up in her flat with her sleeves rolled up, but as soon as she had seen him she pulled the material down to cover up her skin. So Darren started making plans. He met Lee's roommate Jessie who was very brown after her time in Portugal. He had gotten a copy of Lee's schedule and worked out a time to set his plan into action. He had a half day on Saturday but Lee didn't finish until 5pm so he had the chance to sort things out. He got Jesse to let him into their flat and she was planning on leaving soon anyway because she was visiting some family. Once she was gone he opened up the bag he had brought with him. Darren set up candles around the main living room but waited to light them later. He moved to her bedroom, which was sparsely furnished with bright blue walls with a matching bedspread that was crumpled and messed up. He took his time straightening everything up. He checked his watch and saw that he had an hour left. Grabbing his bag he pulled out a smaller plastic bag and reaching a hand inside. he scattered the blue rose petals over the bed and across the floor in the bedroom and the living room. He lit the candles that he had placed around the room. He put his bag in a corner and took his guitar out of its case. He took a while to tune up and he had a quick practice – he didn't want to forget the lyrics like he had done in other gigs. Darren had sung this song a million times – in front of thousands and one time with a gospel choir. But this time it had to be perfect. He heard the key in the door and started to strum. Lee pushed her front door open to see Darren sitting on a chair, playing his guitar and singing. There were candles and blue petals everywhere and she dropped her bag without really caring where it fell.

"I've been alone

Surrounded by darkness

I've seen how heartless

The world can be  
I've seen you crying

You felt like it's hopeless

I'll always do my best

To make you see" Lee sat down opposite, loving the sound of his voice echoing around her.  
"Baby, you're not alone

Cause you're here with me

And nothing's ever gonna bring us down

Cause nothing can keep me from lovin' you

And you know it's true

It don't matter what'll come to be

Our love is all we need to make it through  
Now I know it ain't easy

But it ain't hard trying

Every time I see you smiling

And I feel you so close to me

And you tell me  
Baby, you're not alone

Cause you're here with me

And nothing's ever gonna bring us down

Cause nothing can keep me from lovin' you

And you know it's true

It don't matter what'll come to be

Our love is all we need to make it through  
I still have trouble

I trip and stumble

Trying to make sense of things sometimes

I look for reasons

But I don't need 'em

All I need is to look in your eyes

And I realize  
Baby I'm not alone

Cause you're here with me

And nothing's ever gonna take us down

Cause nothing can keep me from lovin' you

And you know it's true

It don't matter what'll come to be

Our love is all we need to make it through  
Cause you're here with me

And nothing's ever gonna bring us down

Cause nothing, nothing, nothing can keep me from lovin' you

And you know it's true

It don't matter what'll come to be

You know our love is all we need to make it through" Leanne just beamed at him when he finished singing. He put down the guitar next to him moved over to her.

"that was amazing" she said "you are amazing. Just thank you!" she wrapped her arms around his neck holding him tight. Darren moved back slightly, pressing his lips against hers. Lee responded, kissing him back fiercely. His fingers ran down, skimming her sides and pulling a little at the bottom of her top. He felt her stiffen against him, but he moved his mouth, kissing her neck

"I don't care" he whispered "if I'm 'amazing' then you are just freaking incredible. Please let me see" he pulled her hands, taking her with him to her bedroom. "be brave, like you were when you told the others what happened to you" he said into her ear, licking the shell. Lee closed her eyes and reached her fingers to the bottom of the material. She took a deep breath and moved quickly, the shirt coming over her head, leaving her in her bra and jeans. Darren's eyes went as wide as saucers. Lee looked at him, expecting him to either run out of the room or insult her. he saw the red and white lines that traced their way up her arms and across her chest. On her stomach was a thick mass of red scaring. She turned away so that he could see her back – it was crisscrossed with dark lines all over her skin. He ached to know how she had got these, how long she had spent in hospital healing from these and how she had reacted when she first seen them. Darren nearly tore off his own shirt and Lee jumped slightly as his hands snaked around her waist, resting his chin on the gentle slope of her shoulder. "I still don't care" he said quietly. "those 'others' were idiots. Because you Leanne Summers are gorgeous" he kissed he shoulder. "Just fucking gorgeous" lee smiled at the compliment, her fingers tracing random patterns on his hands.

"Not so bad yourself" she murmured back, the skin to skin contact feeling like electricity. Lee turned herself around so that she could claim his mouth again, their tongues instantly coming together. Her hands raked through his curls as she felt Darren's fingers press into her hips, pulling them even closer together. His mouth trailed light kisses across her cheek and down her neck until he reached her collar bone, nicking it slightly

"fuck Dare" she muttered as he sucked on the spot.

"is that something you are going to do any time soon?" he smirked

"douche" she said shuddering at the onslaught on her neck "but maybe" Darren's heart kicked up a notch when she said this. He had gotten know Lee particularly well over the last few months and from what he knew (or had guessed) she hadn't had sex since her ordeal for two different reasons. The first being that she was hugely self-conscious of the scars that marked her body, and hadn't got comfortable enough with anyone to get this far. The second was even if she had gotten that far she was rejected because of them. So he was going to make her first proper time the best ever. Darren moved them sideways so that he could gently push her down onto the bed and then crawl over her, his mouth kissing random spots on her neck. Lee's hands ran over the slight fuzz of hair that ran across his chest and he hissed slightly when she brushed his right nipple. She felt his hands fiddling with the button on her jeans and she held them in her own for a moment

"there are more" she said quietly, staring into his piercing hazel eyes "on my legs".

"you know what?" he asked, pulled at the button. "I still don't care" he said, dragging the denim down her long, toned legs. Her legs had similar marks to her arms – either red or just dark lines running up her skin. Lee's hands tugged him up again, her bare legs tangling with his denim coated ones as they share short, sharp kisses. This time it was her fingers to the work, jerking the button out of its hole and pulling the jeans from his legs, letting them fall the floor. She paused for a moment to take in the details that were just Darren. The was his hip bones protruded lightly from his toned abdomen and the dark hair that covered his muscular legs. Now that he was in just his boxers she could see his obvious erection straining against the material. He looked shyly at her (an expression that she had never seen on his face before) and she sat up kissing him gently.

"you are more beautiful than I am ever going to be" she whispered, nibbling on his earlobe and making him groan quietly

"impossible" he said back, his hands reaching behind her to find the hooks on her bra, sliding off the article of clothing so that he could get access to her breasts. There were scars here too, but again he didn't care. Her fingers dug into his back when he took one in a hand, paying extra attention to her nipple because he knew how sensitive they were for girls (and guys). He moved, his mouth blowing air over one and making her tremble slightly. He pushed her back onto the bed, taking her right nipple in his mouth and the moaned, her back arching into him. Darren used this as a distraction to remove her last piece of clothing and before she could protest it was too late. From what he knew the first orgasm you ever had would be the most intense of all (he knew it had been for him) so this was going to be big. His right hand moved down to play with the tiny bundle of nerves

"shit Darren" she groaned out as he gently pushed a finger in, finding the spot that made her back arch in a delicious curve. Lee could feel the heat spirally in her abdomen as Darren fingers continued to moved – he was still kissing over her chest and neck and the combined sensations were going to make her-

"Darren!" she nearly shouted as she came, her body bucking violently beneath his own as she rode through the waves of pleasure. About 99% of Darren's brain was shouting 'fuck, she looks so hot right now'. The other 1% was delighted that he had been right about the orgasm thing. He brought her down gently from the high with light kisses until she was under some semblance of control again. He shucked of his boxers leaving he cock exposed. Lee had seen it and the still working part of her brain was measuring it up – too her it looked huge, but to Darren it looked average. He caught sight of the edge of panic in her chocolate eyes and he bent low

"don't worry. I'll be gentle I promise" he said to her. he rolled on a condom that he had brought with him. "are you ready?" he wanted to make sure that she was perfectly ok with this before he did anything. Lee nodded and he positioned himself at her entrance. He lifted her legs slightly and started to push slowly. She winced slightly at the intrusion and he could feel her muscles clenching as he slowly eased it, taking it bit by bit until he was full sheathed. "Lee, that's it" he said into her ear. She smiled at him, her fingers teasing the hairs on his chest. Darren dragged back and pushed in again being slow and gentle like he had promised, allowing her to get used to the sensations. Lee could see a slight sheen of sweat starting form on his skin as he moved against her. the discomfort she had been feeling ebbed away, being replaced by pleasure and she wrapped her legs around his waist to pull him deeper.

"more. I need- faster" she couldn't find the right words as Darren's hips almost doubled in speed. Every grunt, every whisper, every touch felt magnified as the pair started to get closer to their climax.

"please, with me" Darren got the message and he bent down to kiss her swollen lips and the change in angle made her moan loudly.

"Lee I-I…" he thrust erratically a few times until both were shouting the others name and she clamped down on him, writhing through her second orgasm. His hips stuttered and random muscles spasmed as he climaxed. Both flopped onto the bed, Darren feeling himself going soft and pulling out. He disposed of the rubber layer and then climbed back into the bed, letting Lee play lazily with his slightly sweaty curls as their heartbeats slowed.

"you are so beautiful when you come" he said quietly

"So are you" she whispered back, pulling his face in for a kiss.


	4. Good Morning

**_So this is the latest chapter - its much longer than the last ones, with a few short scenes in it. Anyways, enjoy and review :)_**

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The next morning Lee woke up slowly. She was not a morning person so usually gave herself at least ten minutes to keep her eyes closed before she actually got up. But there was something weird this morning. There was something kind of heavy lying across her chest – and the fact that she was completely naked. Lee opened her eyes blearily to see a tan arm encircling her. A smile spread across her face as she remembered the events from last night. She moved slightly, enjoying the warmth of Darren's body behind her.

"Mmmmmm" came a groan from the man, being woken up by the movement. They were both a tangle of limbs and bed sheets.

"Sorry" she mumbled

"S'ok" he murmured back as she rolled over in his arms to look at him. Darren's eyes were still closed, and his black curls were coming out in some very odd angles. His bright hazel eyes flickered open, his long eyelashes fluttering against his skin "Morning" he said smiling at her, the look instantly filling her with warmth.

"Best. Morning. Ever" the smile on his face grew

"Best? Really?"

"I think this is the happiest that I have ever woken up. I'm not a morning person"

"Me neither" he said, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear "What time is it?" Lee lifted her arm out of the sandwich that they had become, flailing around for the battery powered clock that sat on her bedside table behind her. She found what she was looking for and brought it over her head, squinting at it a little to focus her blurry eyes on the numbers

"Shit!" she swore, jumping slightly when she saw what time it was

"What is it?" Darren asked, alarmed

"You know how we have jobs? We have to be on set in an hour"

"Fuck, I forgot!"

"It takes half an hour to get there from here so that gives us 30 minutes to get ready and get out. It's big filming day today, remember?" Lee extracted her other arm and the rest of her body from Darren's and crawled out of bed. She wanted to take a shower but she didn't have time so she would just have to settle for a quick spray of deodorant. Darren lay there, watching her move and definitely enjoying the view. Lee caught him staring at her as she pulled some underwear from her chest of drawers.

"Come on Dare, we have to get changed and eat something before we leave" her hands riffled through her wardrobe looking for a clean pair of jeans as Darren attempted to climb out of the bed, but only succeeded in falling right out and onto his butt.

"Ow" he grumbled as Lee laughed at his lack of coordination. He got up clumsily, looking for his bag where had stored an extra t-shirt and boxers. The pair managed to get clothes on and eat in record time. Darren had borrowed a tooth brush and was brushing his teeth as Lee sat in front of her small dressing table, putting on her make-up.

"Do you want to drive or shall I?" he asked, his mouth full of tooth paste. Lee laughed at all the white bits that had got caught in his stubble, nearly poking herself in the eye with a mascara wand in the process

"You can drive. I won't be able to concentrate on the road properly at this time of morning"

"How do you usually manage?" he asked, spitting out the last of the tooth paste into the bathroom sink and washing the white goo from his chin

"I have no idea. I'm pretty sure that I've killed a couple of cats in the last month or so" Lee put away her make-up and stood from the dressing table, picking up her jacket and bag. Darren was pulling on shoes as she started to leave the room

"Come on, we need to go or we will be late" then she caught sight of her neck in the mirror on her wall"oh crap" she muttered

"What?" she hadn't noticed it before because it had been covered by her hair, but she had moved it so that it didn't get caught in the strap of her bag

"I don't know? The massive love bite on my neck?"

"What the hell is a 'love bite'?" he asked, tying his laces and standing

"Sorry, you guys call them 'hickeys'" her fingers traced over the purple mark on her skin. Darren moved closer to her, eyes fixed on the discoloured skin

"I think it looks awesome" he said, pulling her into his arms. Lee smirked

"That's because you made it"

"Maybe I should make another one" he said quietly into her ear "mark you as mine" Lee's whole body seemed to tremble at those four words but she put her hands squarely on his chest.

"We need to go" she said seriously. Darren sighed quietly and then picked up his own bag.

In the end, they just about managed to get to set on time. Lee had done her best to cover the love bite with her hair until make-up got the chance to disguise it properly but Lea's vulture like eyes caught sight of it.

"Lee?"

"Yes Lea?"

"Can you come here for a sec?" people were milling about slowly, sorting out costumes and lines as Lee moved over. Lea's hand reached out, moving Lee's hair away before she could do anything about it "is that a hickey?" she asked incredulously. Something Lea didn't realise about herself was that her voice was just louder than everyone else's. _Shit, _went Lee's brain as Chris's ears pricked up and he came over. The younger woman sighed as Lea showed him

"Oh my god!" he practically squealed, pulling Lee into a hug "You and Darren finally had sex didn't you?" both the girls slapped him on each arm.

"Chris!" Lee complained as he rubbed his arm "You can't just ask me things like that!"

"You didn't answer his question" came that oh so familiar voice behind her. she felt Darren's arms wrap around her waist and his head sit on her shoulder

"Well? Did you?" asked Lea, just as nosy as Chris was, just a little more subtle about it

"Yes" Lee replied rolling her eyes. Both Chris and Lea screamed, grabbing the pair into hugs. Several others heard what had happened and ran over, excited for their friends.

A few days later, Lee was Skyping her mum who was in Paris on a work trip.

"How is dad getting on?" she asked. Her mother ran a hand through her red hair

"He's not too bad. His back has been playing up again"

"I told him to lay off the table tennis. He's 6"5 – all that bending to get close to the table isn't good for him."

"I know dear, but he's as stubborn as a wall, he won't listen to us"

"Do you remember when I was on study leave during my A levels and it completely went? I was making lunch while he rested upstairs and he called the downstairs house phone from the upstai-" Lee stopped as her own house phone started to ring "Hang on mum, let my just get that" the young woman reached over to the side table, grabbing the cordless phone and pressing the green button. It was Darren. They chatted for a moment and then Lee hung up after explaining that she was talking to her mum.

"We really should meet him you know" her mother said thoughtfully "you've been dating for how long now?"

"Nearly four months"

"I remember you texted me right before one of my work friends told me – she was so excited" Lee shook her head ruefully. "When is your next holiday?"

"Two weeks' time – I get a fortnight off"

"Why don't you come up and visit? Your father needs to assess your new boyfriend and I want to look at your masters certificate. And your sister needs a little push in the right direction with her maths"

"I'm rubbish at maths"

"Leanne Elizabeth Summers! I have been telling you this since you were 14 – you are good at maths, you just think you are bad because you don't like it"

"Yes mum" Lee said rolling her eyes

"And you have an A Level in maths – it was a B as well" Lee nodded "Now will you please come over? We miss you"

"I'll come. Let me just ring Darren to ask if he will come too" she picked up the cordless phone again. Her boyfriend picked up after two rings

"Hey Lee, did you finish talking to your mom?" she put the phone on speaker

"No actually, but I want to ask if you would like to come to London with me while we are on hiatus so you can meet my parents" Darren said nothing for a moment and then replied

"Is your mom listening?"

"Yes"

"Tell her that I would love to" her mother smiled broadly at her on her laptop screen.

"Yay! Thanks Dare. I'll catch up with you tomorrow ok?"

"Anything for you babe" he said, hanging up. _Well that's new_, Lee thought_. I've never been 'babe'_ before. Lee decided that she liked it.

"Babe?" asked her mum incredulously "I thought I was the only one allowed to call you that? And I do it in an ironic fashion"

"Shut up mum" Lee laughed.

Two weeks later Lee and Darren were on a plane to Heathrow. They were about halfway into the journey when the cabin crew came around with drinks. Lee was thinking and Darren could see it in her face

"What are you thinking about?"

"You" he smiled "I want to give you a little heads up about my parents – and by that I mean my dad" Darren took her hand in his, stroking the back gently as he frowned

"What about your dad?"

"I love my dad to bits, he's a great bloke, but he's just a bit… what's the right word? Overprotective?" Darren nodded "he always said that to pass the 'dad test' my boyfriend has to have some kind of ambition."

"Well I'm good there"

"And he can't be chubby"

"I don't see what the problem is – I'm ripped" lee laughed

"Just don't swear in front of him. Or say anything inappropriate. And no public displays of affection, he hates that" Darren was still nodding "Don't panic and you'll be fine. Just pretend you are Blaine, all smooth and charming"

"So real life me is what?"

"Clumsy, socially awkward, swears too much and is a bit of a douche sometimes. But otherwise you a pretty much awesome" her boyfriend smiled at the compliment.

"It will be fine Lee, you worry too much" Darren was doing his best to keep his exterior calm but internally he was panicking a little – meeting parents? This was going to be a make or break moment for him. If Lee's parents didn't like him he was screwed.

They managed to get through customs at Heathrow easily and made it into the open area.

"Darren, you might want to put your hood up. Or wear a cap. It takes long enough to get home from here without getting mobbed by fans on the way." Darren nodded, lifted the material of his grey hoody over his head.

"How are we getting to your house?"

"Public transport. We will take the Tube to Charring Cross and then a train from there to Hither Green – my family live on the same road as the station."

"What is the tube?"

"The Tube is like English version of the Subway. But better because we invented it. Then the French nicked it and built the Metro under Paris" Darren nodded.

"Come on" she said, grabbing his hand and tugging him along next to her. They got to the tube station and Darren's eyes widened slightly when he saw how packed the carriages were

"We aren't going to fit in there"

"Darren, you are as tiny as fuck, you'll be fine. Just shove until you are behind the doors"

"I'm not that small"

"I have a point I want to make, but I'm going to wait until we are on the Tube. Now push your way in" the doors slid open and Lee led the way, slipping inside and worming her way in. Darren followed with slightly less grace but managed it. The train started to move quickly as Lee relaxed slightly

"What was your point?"

"Do you know what the average height of a male American is?"

"No"

"Its 5"10. That makes you two inches below average"

"How do you know how tall I am?"

"You are exactly the same height as me – and I'm 5"8 – so I'm five inches above average"

"What's your point?"

"You're short and I'm tall but we are both the same height" Darren laughed a little. It took them over an hour to get back to Lee's house and Lee fumbled about with her keys after putting down her small suitcase. She opened the first set of doors onto a small porch but before she could even get to the second door it was pulled open by a tall, pale skinned woman with red hair

"Leanne!" her mother exclaimed, pulling the young woman into a hug

"Hi mum! I missed you so much" she said, kissing her cheek. Lee's mother stepped back to see the boy – no, young man, she corrected herself - standing behind her daughter. Lee walked in and then gestured to her boyfriend

"Mum, this is Darren" he held out a hand

"It's nice to meet you ma'am"

"Ooh, I've never been ma'am before" her mother smiled, shaking his hand "But please I'm Harriet" Darren nodded "anyway, come in you two. We have lots to catch up on" the pair made their way into the hallway and put their suitcases at the bottom of the stairs.

"Gary! Come and say hello to your eldest daughter!" Her mother called to her husband. Darren watched as a giant black man walked slowly into the hall from the other end. He gulped slightly. Lee moved to her dad, giving him a hug, her head just about reaching his shoulders.

"Dad this is my boyfriend" she said, waving at Darren again. She stood next to him "Darren, you're bouncing again" she said quietly. He stopped moving on the balls of his feet "sorry" he held out his hand

"A pleasure to meet you Sir" his hand was pretty much engulfed by Lee's father's which was large and rough.

"Darren is it?" he asked, his voice deep

"Yes Sir"

"How long have you been dating Leanne?"

"Nearly four months Sir"

"Then you can call me Gary" Lee beamed.

"Where's Ellie?" she asked her parents

"She's with Michael – she should be back soon" Lee's parents withdrew to whatever room was at the other end of the corridor

"Who is Michael?" Darren asked his girlfriend quietly

"Maths tutor. He helped me with my A level. By the way, you really need to work on the bouncing thing"

"Sorry – I bounce when I'm nervous. Or excited"

"I know" she smiled ruefully at him "Come on. I love it when dad cooks chicken" Lee ushered Darren along the corridor into an open kitchen. All the cupboards were a dark blue and there was a large dining table to his left, filling a third of the room. The table was set for five with what looked like Perspex and metal chairs, which contrasted with the wood of the table. Actually, he realised, the table just didn't match the rest of the room. Lee's ears pricked up when she heard the sound of a key in the front door. She turned around just as a figure jumped on her, almost knocking Darren over

"Lee! You're home!"

"Hi Ellie!" she said returning the hug. The two siblings let go of each other and Darren saw that Ellie looked like a younger version of Lee, but with a rounder face that made her look more like her mother. "Ellie this is Da-"

"Yes I know, Darren Criss who plays Blaine on Glee – your famous boyfriend" she said, rolling her eyes at her sister "How come you get a boyfriend and I don't?" She complained. Lee replied almost immediately

"Because I am six years older than you. Because you go to an all-girls school that only lets boys in for sixth form, so there are only 2 boys in your class. And because I'm awesome" Ellie was about to snap back a retort but their mother interrupted

"Could you please wait until after dinner to argue? You know how hard it is to make valid points on an empty stomach" the younger of the pair sighed and then turned to her sister's boyfriend

"Hello Darren, I'm Ellie" she said, sticking out her hand

"It's nice to meet you" he nodded to her, shaking the proffered hand

"Ellie can you get some cutlery please? And Lee you're on drinks." The two girls moved in their respective directions and the young man was left standing awkwardly on his own near the door. Harriet caught sight of this as she was stirring gravy "you can sit down you know Darren?" he started to move "but not there, there or there" she said pointing at three different seats "they are reserved. You and Leanne can sit on that side" Darren took his place to Lee's right as the family bustled around him – Lee pouring wine and juice for people, Ellie setting out cutlery and Harriet putting large dishes of food on the table around a centre point.

"What do you want to drink?" lee said with her back turned to him "water, juice, wine, Guinness punch or beer?"

"He can't have Guinness punch, that's mine" said her father

"What juice do you have?"

"Cranberry, orange, pomegranate and mixed berry"

"Ooh pomegranate please" Lee smiled to herself – she knew he was going to pick that one – he was such a child sometimes. Eventually every one settled down and Gary brought over the chicken on a large glass serving plate. It was covered by legs and thighs – Darren's favourite. It took a while for everyone to serve themselves, various plates were passed around and there were questions from all four family members to each other.

"Darren can you pass me the courgettes please" the young man frowned at her. Lee caught the exchange

"You call it zucchini"

"Oh" he picked up the plate and passed it to Harriet. Darren let the sounds wash over him as he now saw from this side of the room all the photos that were pinned up. On top of the small fridge were a bunch of baby pictures (he couldn't tell whether they were Lee or Ellie) and across the wall next to him were images from different ages of each of the girls. One of them playing in a bath tub as little kids. Another of them playing in the park.

"You alright there Dare?" Darren felt a hand patting his leg and he snapped out of his revelry

"Yeah sorry, just zoned out for a moment there" he picked up his knife and fork and joined everyone else in eating the food. They group of people lapsed into silence as they ate everyone enjoying the food a lot.

"So Darren" said Lee's mother halfway into the meal "what do you do outside of Glee?" he took a moment to finish a mouthful before answering, making sure that he wasn't showing any bad manners

"Not much. The schedule is always so full; I don't get loads of free time because I play a main character. I mean before Glee I used to play in café's and bars – some of my own music and other bits and pieces. And weird covers of Disney songs" Ellie snorted in a very unladylike manner. Her sister raised an eyebrow

"Is something funny?"

"Aren't you a bit old for Disney now?"

"Hey. You are never too old for Disney. Toy Story Three was so sad" he replied with a smile. Harriet brought the conversation away from the tangent that they had been running on

"So what instruments do you play?"

"Well I sing. And I play violin, piano, guitar, mandolin, harmonica and drums. I studied at the University of Michigan – I majored in theatre performance and minored in musicology and Italian" everyone apart from lee had stopped eating.

"Wow" Harriet said "that's a lot" Lee had heard all this before so hadn't noticed that shock on everyone's faces "All I did at university was languages and economics"

"What languages did you take?"

"French, Russian and Latin. But I can only do French now. I think I could probably read Latin if I tried"

"I've always wanted to learn French"

"You should get Lee to teach you – her French is very good"

"Mum I told you, languages aren't my thing – science is where im at." Darren looked at her "Oh yeah and acting/singing/dancing"

"As long as you keep up with the science then I'm happy" said her father. Lee could feel an age old argument about to rear its ugly head – she and her father had always clashed on the arts versus science debate. She liked both – biology might be her passion but so was music. She wanted to point out that her father hadn't gone to university. He didn't even have any A levels. He just about had two GCSE's that he had gotten in Jamaica in Maths and Accounting. He had left the country at the age of 16 and come to England to find a job back in the mid-70s. She now had a masters degree in applied biology and five A Levels – pretty much every point she could make with invalidate all his arguments. But she refused to fight with him – he was too stubborn and it was just lead to them being angry and giving her a headache. Darren watched Lee for a moment while he thought no one else was looking – he saw an expression flash across her usually calm face, but then it switched back to a neutral half smile. He wondered what was going on in her head and decided to question her on it at a later date. They all finished the food and Ellie helped her mother clean up.

"Right Ellie, you need to go to bed – it's a school night"

"Bu-"

"No buts. Go to bed. Lee will still be here tomorrow. You can chat then" Ellie sighed.

"Night Lee. Laters Darren"

"See you El" Darren nodded at the girl as she left.

"I need to pack – I'm in Paris for a couple days so I won't see you"

"Are you flying or training?" lee asked

"Flying" her mother sighed

"I'm sorry mum, that sucks. What time is your flight?"

"7:30 in the morning"

"You have got to leave early then haven't you" her mother nodded "Alright, I'll see you on Friday then. By the way, how is grandpa doing?"

"He's alright. Why don't you visit him in the week?"

"Well I promised myself id take Darren up town so we can have a walk around London and I wanted to meet up with Molly – I haven't heard from her in ages. We can go on Thursday – I'll make him a cake, he likes that"

"Alright. I'm off. I'll take your stuff upstairs. You are in your old room – don't worry I haven't changed anything."

"Thanks mum. I'm going to call Chris to tell him we made it over here ok – he was worried" the two women left the room so that only Darren and Gary were left in the room. All of a sudden the situation had gone from fine to incredibly awkward. He had nothing to say to this man. Gary paused for a moment, listening to his wife and eldest daughter go up the stairs, every one of them creaking.

"You are a lucky boy Darren" he said, pulling his laptop from an unknown area and onto the table. Darren's leg started to bounce faster

"How so?"

"Lee has very sensible in her taste in guys. After what happened to her she got very defensive. She doesn't let people in easily. Now if you have got the chance to meet us, you must be very special to her"

"She's very special to me too Sir"

"You still have to face her grandfather, Harriet's dad"

"Is that going to be a problem?"

"Well you've managed yourself well enough around me, which is a feat in itself. I'm sure Leanne will give you some advice before you go"

"Thank you Sir"

"You can call me Gary Darren"

"Yes Sir" the older man smiled.


	5. Reflexes

_**First, I want to make a formal apology - Toy Story Three is Pixar, not Disney. So sorry, I made a mistake, it just felt like a good example at the time. I hope you enjoy this chapter - its a little bit of filler before we get to meet Lee's grandfather, which is going to be so much fun! *sarcasm*. Anyway please review, I'm getting sad that no one likes my stuff...**_

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The next morning Darren woke up in an unfamiliar bed. He rolled over, opening his bleary eyes to see light coming through a gap in the curtains. The camp bed creaked slightly as he moved to sit up, the blanket falling away from him. He rubbed his eyes tiredly, opening them properly so survey the room. There was a note sticking out from the folds of the blanket and Lee's bed was empty. Darren fumbled with the paper, one hand dead from resting his head on it.

_You looked so sweet while you were sleeping, I didn't want to wake you up! Lee x_

The young man smiled at his girlfriend's impossibly neat handwriting. Darren got up, pushing his glasses onto his face and made his way down the stairs, enjoying the feeling of the thick carpet under his bare feet. He caught Lee in the kitchen by the large silver fridge, wearing tracksuit bottoms and a long sleeved top.

"Morning" she said, pulling milk out of the fridge.

"Hey"

"Too many words, too early in the morning?"

"Yeah"

"Do you want some breakfast?"

"Yeah"

"Cereal?" he shrugged "toast?"

"Please"

"Coffee? You look like you need it"

"Thanks" he said, sitting down at the table. Lee busied herself making toast for Darren and cereal for her. The coffee brewed quickly and she placed mugs of the brown liquid in front of Darren and the place next to him. Lee had dealt with Darren more than once on the early morning sets of Glee so knew what he needed right now – caffeine and sustenance. The toast popped up and she buttered hers, then doing chocolate spread for Darren. He immediately perked up at the prospect of chocolate "yay! Chocolate spread" he took a large bite from the toast, getting some of the spread on his face. Lee looked on with a bemused expression, taking small and careful bites.

"Are you feeling better?" she asked, eating the crusts of the toast first and then working her way to the middle. Darren nodded, mouth full of bread. "That's gross. You need to learn some control" he swallowed thickly

"I'm hungry" he said, shrugging

"I don't think that's a good enough justification for how you were just eating" she replied with a laugh, shaking her head slightly.

"What time is it?" he asked, changing the subject. Lee simply pointed behind her as she took another bite of toast. Darren's eyes followed her finger to a clock above the oven. It was 9:30. "Where are your family?"

"Mum is in Paris, Dad went to work and Ellie has gone to school. I don't think Dad was particularly happy leaving us here alone together" she shrugged "isn't really anything he can do about it" they finished their breakfast in silence – Lee finishing first despite Darren's huge mouthfuls.

"Right" she announced, putting her plate in the dishwasher and brushing the crumbs from her hands. "I'm going to make cake. When you are finished, please put your plate in the dishwasher."

"You sound like you are going somewhere while you make cake"

"Baking is something I can just zone out and do. I get my music on and get baking. So you can try and talk to me but I will probably ignore you. Or sing over you. It depends on how I'm feeling. But I'm in music world so don't touch me or reflexes will kick in" her boyfriend frowned at her. "I'm just giving you a warning – reflexes, especially mine, can be dangerous. Do not startle me because I might go all Lima Heights on your ass" she said slipping into her Santana impression at the end. Darren smiled at her as she picked up her iPod and headphones, taking a moment to select her song. Lee turned on the oven to preheat it, then rolled up her sleeves and stuck on an apron from a rack behind him. Lee busied herself, getting out ingredients and weighing scales. Darren left the table to go back upstairs to put some proper clothes. He came down again ten minutes later to see Lee singing away as she mixed the ingredients in a large bowl with her back to him. Darren walked over and put a hand on her shoulder. Lee moved faster than Darren could react, letting go of the spoon and bowl. She grabbed the hand and twisted it behind his back sharply

"Ow! Shit Lee!" he grunted pain as he sank to his knees. Lee's pupils contracted and then she let go suddenly. He rolled off his knees and sat on the tiled floor rotating his shoulder to relieve the ache.

"I'm so sorry Dare" she knelt next to him.

"What the fuck was that for?" he complained

"I warned you – reflexes. Hold still" she moved behind him, putting her hands on his aching shoulder. Lee pushed her thumbs into the joint, massaging the area. Darren groaned quietly "after my….incident, I had a couple of life changes. One was taking a huge step up with my studies – I refused to let what happened to me affect my schoolwork. I won't let them stop me from achieving my dreams. The other was self-defence and martial arts classes. If anything happened to me again or to someone I was with, I will be able to protect myself. Sometimes when I get startled they just kick in. I'm sorry" Darren had fallen silent as she rubbed his shoulder.

"It's fine. Don't worry about it. I know better next time" Lee helped him up

"I'll tell you what. You can have one free shot" she opened her arms wide "go for it"

"Lee, please. I'm not going to hit you"

"Well we have to make it even somehow" Darren's brain started to cloud over with ideas and then the spark hit him. He moved forward, pushing Lee back into a wall, hard, and kissing her furiously. Her arms wrapped around his torso as his pulled at her hips. One slipped inside her top and traced patterns along her skin. Lee let out a little moan – his thin fingers felt rough from all those years of playing string instruments and it felt good. He kissed his way along her neck, sucking a hickey into the underside of her collar bone and making her breath hitch.

"I know how we could make it even" he whispered "I could suck hickeys all over you. On your neck especially, so everyone will know that you are mine" Lee whimpered slightly as he nicked a spot, his teeth grazing the skin "or I could fuck you into this wall so hard that you won't be able to walk later" he licked the shell of her ear "what do you want to do?" at this point Lee would have done both of those things ten times over but there was a small part of her brain trying to tell her something. The multiple sensations coming from Darren threatening to overwhelm her, she concentrated on the thought that had popped up

"If you let me go now" she paused to groan slightly as he bit gently onto her earlobe "you can lick the bowl when I have finished with it" Darren's hands and mouth stopped moving. He did like cake mix.

"That seems like a fair deal." He said, letting go "I'll just have to fuck you later" Lee pulled him back for another kiss

"It's so hot when you talk like that" she said against his lips. Darren laughed

"You know, you have some skills with massage" Lee shrugged at this

"Natural talent"

"You seem to have a lot of that"

"I'll let you in on a secret" she said, moving her mouth to his ear "its 10% talent and 90% hard work. And I can't read treble clef"

"How have you managed the past few months without being able to read music?"

"I can read music, just bass clef. I've been playing the double bass for 14 years – I haven't had any formal training in any other instruments so I've never really learnt to read it"

"But how have you been harmonising with the others?"

"I have some software on my laptop – I just scan in the music and it transposes it into something I can read" he pulled her into his arms

"I'm going to have to teach you to read"

"I can read" she said slightly indignantly "just not treble clef" Darren let go

"Come on. You have a cake to make. I would practice, but no guitar"

"Look in the study under the pool table" Lee turned back to the mix, picking up the spoon. She heard the twanging of out of tune strings from the other part of the house. Darren came back in with a black guitar, pulling at the pegs.

"How did you know it was there?"

"Dad bought it a few years ago off eBay for 30 quid. He's never used it"

"Quid?"

"Pounds" Darren focused on tuning the strings.

"Mmmmmm" his hum matching an A. He found a pick held under the strings and pulled it out with his right hand. He strummed a few times, his fingers dancing along the neck. Lee poured the contents of the bowl into two baking tins and put them in the oven.

"I'm going to wash while that cooks. When that is done we'll head out. Alright?"

"That is great" he sang back, playing random chords on the black guitar and pulling a funny face.

"So this is charring cross station" Lee said as they got off the train "it's one of the biggest in London along with Cannon Street, Liverpool Street and London Bridge. Come on!" she said pulling his hand. Darren laughed at the excited look on his girlfriend's face. He looped her arm though his and allowed her to steer him out of the train station and left down the street.

"So where are we going again?"

"Covent Garden – it's lovely there. Loads of shops and Jubilee Market and the street performers! Molly said that she would meet us in 20 minutes"

"Where?"

"It's this ice cream place called 'Scoop' – their ice cream is brilliant." Lee led him though Covent Garden, stopping a few times on the way to watch street performers "there she is!" she said pointing ahead

"Lee!" came a shout from nearby. Lee let go of Darren and ran forward to hug someone. The two women released each other, letting them take a good look at the other. After a moment both burst out into laughter. Darren saw that Molly was a couple inches shorter than Lee, with pale skin and brown hair speckled with blond streaks that reached almost to her waist. She was wearing a t-shirt and jeans, and looked quite casual for a journalist

"How are you Mol?"

"I'm ok. How are you getting on?"

"Not bad. I have new actually. I know we haven't spoken in the last few months and I know you don't watch the show but…"

"What?" then Molly's eyes caught sight of Darren standing a few metres behind Lee, watching them both. Neurons fired in her head and she put two and two together quickly. "oh my god Lee! You finally got a boyfriend and you're an actress! Holy shit! Why the fuck didn't you tell me as soon as it happened? I can't wait to tell Anna!"

"Darren this is Molly" Lee said, introducing her friend

"You play the gay kid's boyfriend on Glee don't you?" she asked as she shook his hand

"Yeah. But actually the characters broke up because I cheated on him" he shrugged "it's a long story"

"Well as long as you don't cheat on my dear Leanne you will be fine" Darren smiled "if you do, I will have to beat the shit out of you" Darren's face fell as a grin filled hers. As if he wasn't there, she turned back to Lee and said "he's kind of dreamy isn't he? Shame about the eyebrows though" she mused. The other woman slapped her arm

"Ok first, he's right there – don't be a bitch about him like he's not standing next to you. And second his eyebrows are adorable. If they were thinner they would be completely disproportionate to the rest of his face" Molly started to laugh "what?"

"Well first I have never heard you say 'adorable' before, it just sounded funny coming out of your mouth. And I just wanted to see how you would react – your boyfriend looks lovely" Lee shook her head at her. A few minutes later the trio found themselves in a small coffee shop, chatting away

"So how long have you two been going out?"

"Four-ish months"

"You don't know the start date? How are you going to know when your anniversary is supposed to be?" the other two looked at each other

"Hold on, I think I can work out the start date. Let me just check my calendar" Darren pulled out his phone skipping back a few months "may 24th. It was two days after we filmed 'The Breakup'"

"That episode was so sad. Your guys version of 'don't speak' was brilliant"

"Thanks"

"Ok, can we get off this tangent and back to the circle"

"Sorry"

"How are your family?"

"All fine. Ellie is in her A2 year at the moment"

"God, I hated A2 – like AS wasn't hard enough"

"Do you remember Mrs Hitchins? She was such a bitch"

"Like I could forget. It was so much fun getting her with a water pistol on muck up day" lee laughed

"She looked like a drowned rat"

"Can you expand on this topic please?" Darren chipped in, thoroughly confused

"Ok – the last two years of school are your A-Levels. The first is AS and the second is A2. On the last day of school before we all go on study leave (where we don't have to come into school unless we have an exam) we have 'muck up day'. Basically we pick a theme and rampage the school. Our theme was 'zombies'. We made a load of fake corpses and hung them up around the school. Half of us came in as zombies and the others came in as military to fight them off. We had water pistols and were soaking every one. It was so much fun. Actually that reminds me" she said, turning back to Molly "What happened to you and Spider?"

"It turns out he is a complete arse"

"I told you. Now spill"

"He went to a different university. He didn't seem to understand that I had work to do and we broke up because I was busier than him. He came to the flat I was sharing with a friend and fucked up the place while he was drunk"

"I always said – what do you get when you mix a prick with alcohol and dyslexia? Jack" they ended in unison

"Anyway so I went to visit him and punched him in the face"

"Did you rotate your hips and shoulders?"

"Of course – I'm not about to forget the stuff you tell me. He had a black eye for ages"

"Nice one" the two women laughed

"So Molly, Lee tells me that you're a journalist?"

"Yeah, but I'm not really earning enough from that. So I took a teaching course. Do you remember work experience when we were in that primary school for a week?" Lee nodded

"So you teach now?"

"I'm a tutor for kids that need it. English mostly. Maybe I could teach your boyfriend"

"His English is fine"

"Oh honey, you have been blinded by love. Lee, Darren is American – true it's not his fault – but he will never speak proper English. He'll say words like 'sidewalk' and 'trash can' until you teach him otherwise"

"You know I'm right here" he said with a frown

"I don't mind the way he speaks. And this kind of stuff his hard to teach out of a person – it would be easier if he was younger" Molly shrugged

"Fine, it's your choice" but Lee had stopped listening. Her head snapped round to the glass door when she heard shouting from outside. There was a large cluster of girls outside. She saw Darren pale slightly – he had no bodyguard this time to keep them off.

"DARREN!"

"Oh shit" he muttered as Lee turned back to him

"So what do we do?" asked molly as the girls started to run in, pushing each other over in their haste.

"I'll talk to them, you guys need to disappear. Meet me by FatFace in 15 minutes" Lee turned to the crowd "Hey!" she shouted, trying to quiet them down

"You guys watch Glee don't you?" the girls nodded as Darren slipped out of the room "remember me? I play Clara Jones. My name is Leanne Summers. And that" she said pointing to the door that Darren had left from "is my boyfriend. So leave off or I will have to do something about it" one of the girls actually tried to bowl her over but Lee was tall – she simply picked up the girl and put her back down in front of her. "I think not" she said to the girl "spread the word. He's on holiday and he is taken – leave him alone. It's like he doesn't get enough grief in Los Angeles" she shouted. Three quarters of the girls left and few stayed behind for Lee's autograph and a couple of photos much to her relief. Once they were finished Lee went to the counter and apologised/thanked the manager. Then she ran out of the shop to find Molly and Darren.


	6. Defeated by Logic

_**Hello avid readers! Hope you are enjoying the story so far :) just a quick heads up there is a twist in the second half of this chapter which leads to a really happy ending. I think i might wrap this up in maybe 2 or 3 more chapters (unless anyone says otherwise) - probably with some jumps forward to their future... If you review you can have some of the cake from this chapter...**_

* * *

Lee and Darren were sitting on a train to Sawbridgeworth the next day, Lee with a Victoria sponge cake on her lap. She was thinking about the conversation she had had with her grandfather the day previous.

"_Hello?"_

"_Hi grandpa, how are you?"_

"_Ah, Leanne. It's wonderful to hear from you. How is school?"_

"_I told you grandpa it was university" she said with a smile "and I'm finished now – I have a masters in applied biology. Anyway, I'm in London and I wanted to visit you tomorrow"_

"_Tomorrow is fine my dear. What time should I be expecting you?"_

"_Around midday. I have someone I want you to meet"_

"_Alright then. I'll make sure to buy some extra bread"_

"_I'll see you tomorrow grandpa. Love you"_

"_Love you too my dear" he said, hanging up_

Lee leant back in her seat and turned her head to look at her beard free boyfriend. She knew that he didn't shave and wore his glasses when he wasn't working but she had asked him to shave for one reason – her grandpa hated guys with beards. This was going to be a difficult blow for her grandfather – he was in his mid-eighties now and was very stuck in his ways. Sexist, homophobic, hates Americans etc. She had a thick skin and most of this had just rolled of her but with Darren it was different. She didn't really care whether her grandfather accepted him; it was just to see if he would.

"So what are the rules with your grandfather?" asked Darren, bringing her out of her thought bubble

"Like my dad, I love him to bits. He's the only grandparent I have left. He's kind of old fashioned" Darren frowned slightly, his thick eyebrows almost connecting above his nose

"How old fashioned?"

"He's often quite sexist, homophobic, occasional racist"

"Hold on, is sexist and racist to you?" he asked, an eyebrow now raised in confusion

"Sometimes. But he can't really help that, he's like that to everyone. He has four daughters and he pisses them off every time they visit. He wasn't exactly overjoyed with her found out that my mum had got together with a black guy" Darren nodded

"And he hates Americans"

"Then we have a problem"

"And pretty much anyone who isn't a white British man"

"Well considering that I'm half Philippine and half Irish, and I grew up in San Francisco, I'm pretty much screwed on that front" he quipped a little nervously

"At the moment I don't really care if he likes you or not – I'm not about to break up with you because of him. He'll just have to accept it even if he doesn't like it" she huffed a little, crossing her arms over the cake on her lap. _I love you, _thought Darren. But he didn't say it. Not yet_._

Half an hour later, Darren and Lee were climbing out of a taxi and walking up to her grandfather's front door. Lee pushed the handle down and kicked the bottom of the door to open it, knowing that her grandfather never bothered to lock the front door because there were barely 100 people that lived in his village..

"Hello grandpa!" she called through the house. Darren followed her though a short hallway and into a large living room. The floor was covered by a large patterned rug and there was a big fireplace fronted by some salmon coloured couches. Lee led him into an open kitchen with a stone floor.

"Ah Leanne." The old man turned around to his is eldest (and secretly favourite) grandchild and some boy behind her. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Grandpa this is Darren. He is my boyfriend – he's the someone I wanted you to meet" Darren held out his hand, focusing on not bouncing

"A pleasure to meet you Sir"

"Peter." He said, shaking the had warily – the boy was American

"I made you a cake by the way"

"Thank you dear" Lee put the cake down on the island in the middle of the kitchen/dining room combo.

"I'm going to go and grab some herbs to put in the lamb"

"How do you know what meat we're having?" Darren asked

"I have a very sensitive sense of smell" she shrugged leaving the room. Peter was chopping up vegetables as he said

"Your name is Darren?"

"Yes Sir" the young man started bouncing on the balls of his feet

"What do you do?"

"I am an actor and musician. Lee works on the same TV show as me"

"Leanne is acting? I thought she was a scientist? Is that why she went to university in the states?"

"Our producer picked her on a whim after hearing her sing. She's very good"

"Hm" he paused for a moment, putting down the knife as he watched Lee through the window. "I'm going to go and help her. Please sit down" he said, making his way slowly out of the kitchen. Darren sat at the large dining table, looking at the magazine on the side.

"Hello grandpa" Lee said as she picked some bay leaves.

"Leanne he is American" Lee's hands stopped moving

"What is your point?"

"That is my point" Lee stood up to look at him.

"Grandpa, I know you are a bit stuck in your ways but Darren is staying."

"And you're an actress now? That is not a proper profession. I thought you were going to be a scientist?"

"No one said that I couldn't do both"

"And you are dating some American boy with ridiculous eyebrows"

"Why does everyone have a problem with his eyebrows?" she asked out loud "look grandpa, I don't care that I'm going out with an actor. I'm not leaving him because you said so – this isn't Les Miserables. And you know what else? They guy he plays on the show is gay" she huffed off back into the house, practically slamming the herbs onto a chopping board. Darren looked up at the sound

"Are you alright Lee?"

"I'm fine thank you Darren. Just let me cut these up and put them on the meat" the young man watched her grandfather come back in

"Ah. Back where she should be – in the kitchen with all women" on one side of the room Lee was gritting her teeth. She knew that he was trying to wind her up and normally she wouldn't let herself get annoyed but it was too late. Darren was slightly in shock from the comment – it was blatant sexism aimed at Lee. She turned to look at him and he understood the look completely – _do not say anything._ She took the lamb out of the aga and scattered the chopped up herb on top. It took a further 15 minutes for the meat to cook and Lee plated the food in silence, placing it front of the others.

"Excellent Leanne" congratulated Peter. Darren wanted to make small talk with this man but he couldn't think of anything. "How are your languages getting on?"

"My French is fluent since I spent six months in Paris doing lab work during my third year at university. But Darren speaks Italian"

"Yeah, I minored in Italian and majored in theatre studies at university"

"Ah, molto buono"

"You speak Italian?"

"No. I know the odd phrase" they lapsed into silence again, all three eating quietly.

"But acting isn't a real job is it?" he mused aloud. Lee was about to say something defiant when Darren cut in

"I think you will find that the dictionary definition of the noun 'job' is a position where you complete a task for an agreed price. Our task is to act and we get paid for it. I don't think there is a scale to the realism of the job itself." He paused "Sir" he tacked on at the end. Lee squeezed his arm under the table in thanks – he had just defeated her grandfather with logic while still being polite. Peter looked like he was about to say something in response but instead stayed quiet. They finished the meal quickly and Darren helped her to clear up. She brought out the cake she had made and cut three slices for each of them.

"Wow, this is really good cake Lee" Darren said after he had taken his first bite. His girlfriend smiled at him

"Good, I'm glad you like it"

"Yes – it's one of the few things women can do well"

"What are the other few things that women do well?" Lee asked her grandfather in a sickly sweet voice.

"Cleaning. Cooking (sometimes). Failing to do the jobs that are meant for men" Lee smiled at this last comment

"And yet, your eldest daughter, my mother, is the third in command for a company that spans across the world. This particular company is dominated by men and yet she does her job incredibly well. I'd also like to point out that two of your other daughters, my aunts, are doctors – and as we know, the medical profession has a gender ratio of 80:20" she crossed her arms "these jobs are apparently meant for men but I know three very capable women that do those jobs often better than their male counterparts. Is there anything that you would like to add Darren?"

"No I think you pretty much got it all" he said with a slight smirk.

Lee was back at work. It was 6 o'clock in the morning. She had been there for three hours, practicing songs with Chord and Jenna. Her phone was buzzing angrily at her.

"Sorry guys, let me just grab this" she pulled out the phone, not recognising the number "hello?"

"Is this Leanne Summers?"

"Yes, who is this?"

"I'm from the Pacific Alliance Medical Centre" Lee's breath hitched as she heard the rest of what had happened. As soon as the man had hung up she ran over to her bag, shoving her jacket on as tears fell down her face

"What happened?" asked Jenna

"Darren's been in a car crash. He's at the hospital. I need to go. Tell Ryan what's happened. I'll call later" Lee ran out of the building, into her car and screeched around the corner. She was lucky. It was early morning as she sped through the streets, just about keeping to the speed limits. She made it to the hospital in record time, parking her car and running inside.

"I'm here to see Darren Criss" she said a little breathlessly to the receptionist. She tapped at her keyboard from a moment

"He's still in recovery. You can wait up there until he comes out. First floor, second door on your left"

"Thank you" Lee made her way quickly to the lift and onto the first floor. There was a row of empty seats on the other side on the second door. She sat down, folding her fingers in her lap with her right foot tapping in nervousness.

Darren put his key in the ignition and started to take the easy drive from his home to Glee. He paused at the second intersection, taking a look around to make sure he could pass. He started to move forward and got about halfway when he caught the sight of a car speeding towards him from the corner of his eye. The car hit him at 80 miles an hour, his body jarring with the impact. He raised his hands to cover his head from the falling glass. His car tipped over, causing Darren to be hanging off his seat, only held down by the seatbelt. He felt his shoulder wrench and he cried out in pain. His head smashed into the wheel as the airbag finally burst while he fell unconscious.

Lee sat there for what felt like ages until the double doors at the far end opened. She stood up immediately as two doctors pushed a bed down the corridor.

"Leanne Summers?" one of them asked. Lee nodded, not quite trusting her voice. "Follow me" she followed them into a private, empty room.

"Who are you in relation to Darren?"

"I'm his girlfriend. Is he going to be ok?"

"Well, he has multiple lacerations from the glass, whiplash from the seatbelt and probably some concussion. He dislocated his shoulder but we have reset that"

"You didn't answer my question" the doctor flicked his eyes at her, frowning slightly

"Maybe. He's lost a lot of blood. He's going to be in a lot of pain when he wakes up"

"Alright. Thank you"

"You can stay with him for now, but as soon as he wakes up I want you to press this button" he said pointing to a button on the side of the bed. Lee nodded as the two doctors left. She pulled over a chair and sat next to her boyfriend, taking a proper look at him. He had a dark purple mark on the left side of his head and a large cut running down the side of his neck. She could tell there were probably more but she couldn't see because they were covered up. Lee reached out a slim had, searching for his under the cover. She took it gently as tears welled up in her eyes again.

"Hey. Do you remember when I told you my favourite song?" she whispered. "I said that maybe if you're lucky I would sing it for you?" she said with a small smile. "Out by a shanty, where the dust hangs high

Far from a river where things grow green

The flowers weep and they lean away  
From the blood stained soil beneath my feet  
The thorns outnumber the petals on the rose  
And the darkness amplifies the sound of printers' ink  
On propaganda page  
That will rule your life and fuel my rage  
I tried to bend my knees  
But my knees were already bent  
I haven't stood like a man for such a long time now  
I called to my god but he was sleeping on that day  
I guess I'll just have to depend on me  
Shall I tell my children if they ask of me  
Did I surrender forth my right to be?  
Y'see my daddy died to leave this haunting ground  
And this same ground still haunts me  
The cool September blows the seeds away  
The harvest blown again this year  
But I'll return a stronger man  
I'll return to me my homeland  
No grave shall hold my body down  
This land is still my home" her voice echoed around her as she continued to cry for the man she now realised she loved.

"Lee?" came his hoarse voice, eyes flickering slightly

"Dare! It's me" she said squeezing his hand and feeling herself flood with relief

"Shit" he grumbled. His head was on fire. Lee leaned over and pressed the call button. A nurse came in only a moment later, moving Lee away from her boyfriend so that she could take his pulse. "What happened?" he murmured, his voice not quite working properly

"Try not to speak Mr Criss. Just relax and keep still." Lee filled in for him

"Car crash" she responded quietly to his question "it wasn't your fault, they drove into you" Darren blinked in reply. The nurse leaned over him to look at the large cut on his neck that the doctor had closed with stitches. "How is he?"

"He'll be fine. He's going to need plenty of rest to let his shoulder sort itself out"

"Thank you"

"I'm going to give you some painkillers to help" she fixed up the catheter in his hand to an extra tube that was hanging from a drip. The nurse left quietly.

"How do you feel?" asked Lee. Darren used the arm that hadn't been dislocated to point at his head "your head hurts? Blink once for yes and two for no" Darren blinked once. "You poor thing. I was so worried. When I got the call from the hospital I practically ran off set…." Lee started rambling as she started to cry again.

"Lee" he said quietly, squeezing her hand. He was getting very tired as was pretty sure he was going to fall asleep any minute now. He needed to say the three words that he had been thinking over and over again for the past few weeks. Her reddened eyes focus on his hazel ones "I love you" he said, holding her hand tightly as he watched the darkness eating away at the edges of his vision.

"I love you too" came the hushed reply.


	7. Right There Huh?

**_Wow, two chapters in one day! This is a little time skip into their lives. I think one more chapter should do the trick and I can close up this particular fic. I'm rating this one M because there are some big lemons avec some smut about halfway in so be prepared. if you don't want to read that, then don't. Please review..._**

* * *

"Hello?"

"Hi Harriet, can I speak to your husband please?"

"Of course you can Darren" it was a year after his car accident and things were going well. Blaine had finished school so they didn't need him for Glee much anymore. He did acting and music jobs to keep going, but he had saved a lot of money from Glee. Once Lee had finished she had gone back to biology, as a lab assistant for a genetics company

"Hello?"

"Sir, its Darren"

"I have told you before Darren, you can just call me Gary. Anyway, what's up?" Darren gulped slightly

"Um, I err…" he took a breath "I want to ask for your permission to marry Lee" on the other end of the phone Lee's father said nothing for a moment.

"Are you sure that you are ready?"

"Yes" Darren had been thinking about this for a while

"Do you love her?"

"Yes"

"Does she love you?"

"Yes"

"Then you have my permission" Darren did a little dance on the other end of the phone. Gary frowned

"Are you dancing?" Darren coughed

"No sir. Thank you for your permission"

"And if you screw her over, I will kill you" Darren's eyes went wide "I'm just joking. But seriously, be careful"

"Yes sir."

"Alright, thank you for calling Darren. I'm sure I'll get a call from Leanne soon about this" Gary hung up. _Right then_, thought Darren as his held the little box between his fingers. _Time to put my plan into_ _action_. He dialled Lee's number into his phone – she picked up after two rings

"Hey Dare. What's up?"

"When you finish work can you come to Glee?"

"Why? We're recurring characters – they don't need us anymore"

"Just come. Rehearsal space 4" Lee frowned

"Ok" she said slowly

"I'll see you later" He hung up. He had an hour before she finished work – it would take her 20 minutes to get from work to Glee. He drove over to set so that they could have a quick rehearsal before Lee arrived. He got in, greeted by everyone who were all very excited. Lee put down her pipette for the day and took off her lab coat

"I'm going home now Mark" the man looked up at her briefly from the bench.

"I'll see you tomorrow Lee" she went down the stairs as she put her jacket on, hanging her bag over her left shoulder. She drove through all the traffic in the streets of Hollywood, making her way to the set of Glee quickly. She got out of her car to see Ryan standing behind her car carrying a large bouquet of blue roses. She frowned at him slightly

"Ryan? What's going on?"

"Just take them and follow me" he held out the flowers. Lee took them off him and walked towards the main building. She walked in to see Darren in the front of a triangular formation of her friends. They were all wearing the Warbler uniform. Then they all started to dance with the usual two-step click and Darren was singing. Lee couldn't help but laugh in delight. It was 'Teenage Dream' by Katy Perry. She knew how special this song had been to him – it literally changed his life. He let the others take over in the last chorus as he stepped out of the formation, kneeling in front of her, holding out the small blue box and flicking it open. The voices died down

"Leanne Elizabeth Summers" Lee was starting to cry, she knew what was happening "will you marry me?" she couldn't even speak so just nodded, her smile so wide it hurt. Darren took her left hand, pushing the ring onto her slim finger. He got up quickly, grabbing her face and kissing her hard. The other people erupted into cheers.

8 months later….

"Oh my god" Darren whispered as Lee walked into the hall. He couldn't find the words to describe how amazing she looked in that moment. Her wedding dress came over her shoulders with clear sleeves covered with white swirling patterns. It covered her scars perfectly and still looked brilliant. The dress was long enough to pool around her feet as she walked slowly down the aisle arm in arm with her father who somehow managed to look even taller in a suit. When she reached him, her father let go, allowing her to take hold of Darren's hands. She could see know that he was wearing a tuxedo with a small blue flower pinned to the lapel. Someone (she doubted it was him – probably Chris) had managed to tame is normally curly hair with copious amounts of gel – it looked odd to see his hair like this as he hadn't worn it this way in over a year.

"You look incredible" he whispered. Lee blushed a little at the compliment, squeezing his hands in response. The vicar started to speak, greeting everyone and talking briefly about the pair in front of him.

"If you will recite your vows" Darren went first

"The day I met you has got to be the one of the best days of my life. You changed me Lee. You made me a better person. It's like you are my missing puzzle piece" Lee smiled at this as she heard a few groans from the crowd "I love it when sing and dance around the kitchen to some old song that you swear is your favourite even though you said that barely ten minutes ago about some other song. And when I was in that car accident, you helped me pull through. You were there for me the entire time. I was asleep half the time and I was rude to you sometimes because I was angry at myself for not healing fast enough. But you just took it in your stride and made sure that I got better. I love you, and I'm never letting you go" he said, slipping the ring onto her finger.

"You just brighten up my world Darren. I can't help but smile when I see your face or laugh at your terrible jokes. I don't mind when you quote song lyrics insensately, even at inappropriate moments" she raised an eyebrow at him "I remember when you met my grandfather for the first time and you invalidated his point with logic because he was being rude to me. You showed me what it is to love and dream and to be loved. And I know you don't always think it, and I don't always tell you but you are perfect. To me. I love you for everything you have done for me" she said, pushing the ring onto his finger.

"You may kiss the bride" announced the vicar and they both leant forward, joined in a gentle kiss with their arms around each other.

Mere hours later…

It had taken what had felt like forever to get through the reception and the after party, going through congratulation after congratulation from family and friends. They had finally made it to the posh hotel they were going to be staying in for a long weekend for their honeymoon.

"So I quote song lyrics all the time do I?" he said, tugging her up the stairs as she hitched up her dress to stop her from tripping.

"You put lyrics from Teenage Dream in your vows. So I put Pink into mine" she shrugged slightly. Darren took a quick look at the key in his hand to remind him of the room. They went down the corridor

"Stop right there" he unlocked the door. Darren pressed a hand into the small of her back

"Are you sure you can lift me?" she asked with a raised eyebrow – she still had some mild concern for his shoulder.

"You doubt me Leanne?" he said, picking her up easily and carrying her into the room and laying her down on the sumptuous double bed. "As super-mega-foxy-awesome-hot as you look in that dress, which you totally do" he said, closing the door quickly and kicking off his shoes "I need you to take it off so I can fuck you into tomorrow"

"Can you actually do that? She asked, pulling at the concealed zip in her dress. Once she had got it off her body (and stored it in the wardrobe) she grabbed his shirt and pulled him down, moulding their mouths together. He twisted the bowtie from around his neck, throwing it onto the thickly carpeted floor. Lee's hands weaved through his gelled hair trying to make it curly again. Darren tore of his jacket, not caring where it landed.

"God, I've been waiting for this all day" he muttered, decorating her jaw with feather light kisses

"Really?" she asked as she fiddled with the buttons on his white shirt. Darren helped her, pulling it off and letting her fingers splay over his chest. He kissed down her neck, sucking on the spot that he knew would make her respond. Over the last couple of years, they had found that they were both quite vocal in the bedroom. Lee had always found Darren's swearing a turn on and now was not going to be an exception.

"Fuck Darren" she swore as he sucked a purple mark into her caramel skin.

"I think you will find that I will be the one doing the fucking" he said into her ear, licking the shell and making her shudder. "Right there huh?" he asked as hands clutched at his biceps

"Asshole" she muttered. Lee played with one of his nipples as payback, making him groan loudly. His fingers fiddled with back of her lacy white bra trying to find the clasp.

"Fuck dare, it opens at the front" she said.

"You could have mentioned that earlier" he replied moving his hands

"It didn't really come up" Darren pulled off the article of clothing, placing kisses on the swell of her breasts. He kissed every scar, hearing her breath hitch every time his lips met her skin. Lee let her fingers trace random patterns over his slightly sweaty skin and wrapped her mouth around a nipple.

"Shit" he groaned out

"Right there?" she repeated his earlier question

"Shut up" he laughed quietly. Darren could feel his mind unravelling as his fingers dug into her hips. Her lips on his skin felt like fire, his other senses were started to fade out so that all he could feel was Lee. Her hands drifted down, palming his cock through his black trousers making Darren's hips snap forward involuntarily.

"Isn't it getting uncomfortable in there?" she asked seriously. Darren blushed a little as she undid the button and pulled down his trousers and boxers at the same time and he sighed because the clothes weren't tight or scratchy any more. The sigh turned to a gasp when he felt the wet heat of Lee's mouth around the head of his cock.

"Holy fuck Lee!" his hands fisting in the sheets. She pressed her hand into his hips to stop him thrusting too far and making her gag. She took as much of him as she could and bobbed up and down, covering the rest of him with her hand. Curses were tumbling from his mouth as he felt that familiar heat coiling in his stomach. Lee came off the end with a wet popping sound and licked the vein that ran along the underside of his dick. She sank back down, hollowing her cheeks and sucking hard.

"Fuck Lee. I-n-no-stop" Lee pulled off the end, giving him a light lick as she got off. He pulled himself towards her, claiming her mouth in a strong kiss, tasting a little of himself on her tongue as he squeezed her breast. His finger's pulled at her underwear

"Someone's a little insistent" she said, helping him pull at the white cloth. He dragged it down her slim legs as her hand stroked his cock lazily and making him whimper slightly

"Don't fucking tease" he groaned. He nipped at her collarbone, his teeth grazing her skin. Lee pressed herself into him

"Didn't you say you were going to fuck me through to tomorrow?" she asked huskily into his ear.

"Screw that, I'm going to make love to you until you beg for it hard and rough like I know you want it" he growled back. He found her entrance and pushed in achingly slow until he was fully sheathed. Lee, like Darren, had been looking forward to this all day – he looked so hot in a suit – and she wanted sex now. He dragged back, setting up a painfully slow rhythm.

"Dare please" she moaned, wrapping her legs around his back, trying pull him deeper

"Ahat do you want?" he asked, feeling the thin sheen of sweat forming on his skin "do you wanted to get fucked so hard you won't be able to walk straight tomorrow morning? We'll go down to breakfast in this posh hotel and everyone will know what happened. Is that what you want? To have my cock pounding in an out of you until you scream my name? I want to hear you scream Lee." He growled out the words

"Fuck yes! Please Darren!" that was all the encouragement he needed as his hips tripled in speed, Lee meeting him with every thrust. He knew everything he had just done was to turn her on, because he knew about the kind of fuck-lust she got into sometimes, especially since she had been looking forward to this all day. Lee was completely lost in the sensations coming from her abdomen as her fingers clutched at his muscled back. Both were swearing constantly as their climaxes approached.

"Dare, I-I…"

"Scream. I dare you. No one can hear, I picked a sound proofed room. I want you to be loud when I make you cum. Let go"

"Ngh" was all she could get out in response. His fingers played with the little of bundle of nerves making her so close to the edge, but not quite pushing her far enough. He pressed down on it with one finger, knowing that this was it for her. Lee cried out as she came, her body writhing beneath his. She clamped down on him and it was too tight for him to handle and he let go, his hips stuttering as he swore loudly.

"Fuck Lee" he said, flopping down next to her.

"I thought you just did?" she murmured, feeling a little gross because she was about to go to sleep in the bed she had just had sex in – it was sweaty and hot and kind of sticky but she didn't care because she was with her husband and her name was Leanne Elizabeth Criss.


	8. He looks like you

_**So this is the last installment of Lee's story. A nice happy ending to my first glee fic. Enjoy! **_

* * *

"After testing you both, we have established that you are extremely fertile. Even after your, ah, incident Mrs Criss" Lee nodded at him

"Thank you for your time Dr Thomas" she said, standing up to shake his hand. Darren got up too and the middle aged doctor smiled at the young couple as they left

"You alright there Lee?" he asked, taking hold of her hand

"Yeah I'm fine"

"Liar" Lee sighed – he always knew when she was hiding something

"I was just worried I guess. After what happened to me, I thought there was a good chance that I could never have children. Now that I know I can, I feel kind of relieved" Darren squeezed her hand.

"Do you really want to? Because you know, we don't have to if you don-"

"Don't worry Dare. Sure my body is going to get messed up and we will have so many sleepless nights but it will be worth it. We'll have something that is all ours"

"I'm going to hold you to that"

"When?" she asked raising an eyebrow

"Just you wait and see" he muttered.

A month later…

"Darren! Darren, get in here!" Lee shouted down the stairs. Her husband came racing up, skipping steps in his haste and nearly falling over when he reached the bathroom.

"What? What is it?" Lee practically shoved the white stick in his face. Darren let his eyes focus behind his glasses on the two bright pink lines on the pregnancy test "does that mean?"

"Yes! I'm pregnant!" both of them whooped and Darren swept her into a tight hug.

A few weeks later, Lee was lying on an exam bed while an unfamiliar doctor put cold jelly on her stomach. Darren was in a chair next to her, holding her hand and both were staring intently at the small screen mounted on a table. An image popped up and it took a moment for them to discern the tiny person hidden in amongst all the lines.

"Is it a girl or a boy?" asked Darren. The doctor leaned over to look at the screen and then moved his hand on the ultrasound

"Mr and Mrs Criss, you are having a baby boy" he said with a smile

"God, I love him already" Lee whispered, giving her husband's hand a squeeze

* * *

4 months into Lee's pregnancy and she was rounding out quite well. All her friends had been extremely supportive and her parents had been delighted that they were going to become grandparents. Lee was struggling through morning sickness, cramps and crazy mood swings but Darren was taking it all his stride, helping her out where he could. And when he couldn't, he would ring his mum for advice. That very morning she had yelled at him about house keys for ten minutes and then burst into tears for a further fifteen. She was tired all the time, so fell asleep quickly after her emotional outburst. He had comforted her as much as he could until she had fallen asleep and then got up quietly to find a phone.

"Hello?"

"Hi Harriet, its Darren"

"Hi, how are you? How is my little girl getting on?"

"She's not looking so little now actually. But she's having these crazy mood swings and I'm not sure how to deal with them" he then went on to describe that morning's events.

"Hm. Well I had some pretty intense mood swings when I was pregnant and I think you just have to roll with it sweetie. If she's angry, let her be angry. If she's sad, let her cry for a bit. Hormones are tricky things and they can mess you up when you least expect it. Just make sure she stays off alcohol and doesn't lie on her front. And by the way, she might get some really odd cravings, but if she does buy as much of whatever it is as you can. If she's anything like me, she will scoff the lot like she's never going to eat again" she said, and Darren could hear the smile in her voice

"Thank you Harriet"

"That reminds me, when is her due date?"

"Mid-April"

"I'm going to come over around then to make sure that she's ok. I know you think you can handle it, but frankly you are going to need me"

"How do you know?"

"Please, Darren, I'm her mother. I know. Anyway, I've got to go, but I'll see you soon, ok?"

"Bye Harriet" he said as she hung up.

A few weeks later he came in to see Lee sitting on the kitchen counter, gorging on something from packets in her lap. He frowned at her, as she continued to eat, her hands a greasy

"Um, Lee?"

"Mph?" she asked, her mouth full of food

"What are you eating?"

"Smoked mackerel and cheese?" he raised an eyebrow at her

"I'm going to take that as a craving"

"Yeah, it kind of came about ten minutes ago and now I can't stop" Darren sighed and walked back towards the front door

"I'll go to the shops"

8 months into Lee's pregnancy….

Lee woke up, sweating at the sudden pain that had shot through her swollen stomach. She rubbed her hand on her belly.

"Not now" she murmured to her unborn son. Then she felt the wet stickiness spreading across the bed sheets and she groaned. "Darren!" she said, slapping his arm. He jerked in bed at the sudden intrusion on his sleep

"What?"

"Baby. Now!"

"Shit! He isn't due for another month!"

"I think he's having other ideas" she said as Darren scrambled out of bed, grabbing some shoes and a jacket from his cupboard to sling over his pyjamas. He helped her out of bed and out of the house to their car. She managed to get in before growling though her next contraction in the passenger seat. Darren drove with reckless abandon through the quiet streets – it was half three in the morning. They made it to the hospital in record time and Darren helped her out again, another contraction hitting her as they walked through the double doors.

"My wife has gone into labour!" he practically shouted at some random nurse that was walking past. She reacted quickly, dashing over to them with a wheelchair. They helped Lee in and pushed her into a lift.

"Can I have your name sir?"

"I'm Darren Criss. This is Lee"

"How far apart are your contractions honey?"

"I don't know? 20 minutes to half an hour?"

"Good. That's just early stage. We will have to wait for several more hours before they get close enough for you to actually give birth."

"Hold on, several hours? Of this?" she started to despair.

"Yes, I'm afraid so" she said as they got out of the lift and Lee got pushed toward the maternity unit. They entered a private room and they helped Lee to lift herself onto the bed. "Every time she has a contraction I want you to record the time lapse between them, starting from the next one, ok? I need to go and sort out some of your paperwork. I'll be back soon with some painkillers to help."

"Lee I'm going to ring your mum alright?" she nodded at him. He punched in the numbers.

"Hello?" came a deep groggy voice

"Sir, its Darren"

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" he grumbled

"Lee just went into labour"

"I thought she wasn't due until next month?"

"So did we" on the other end of the phone Gary sighed, rubbing his head tiredly – if Harriet wasn't going to be there, this boy was going to need all the help he could get.

"Just a word of advice before I hand you over to Harriet. If her labour is anything like Harriet's, she is going to curse the place down. She will swear and shout and insult you like her life depends on it. I promise you, she will not mean a word of it. She will sound angry but it is just a coping technique to get through the pain. Do not try to console with her – you have no uterus so you cannot imagine how she's feeling and she will just get more angry at you as a result"

"Thank you" Darren heard some fumbling noises and a groan from the other end

"You have got to be joking" came Harriet's tired voice

"I'm afraid not"

"Premature babies are hard – I know. Leanne was two months early herself. Make sure she doesn't lie on her front and get her to drink plenty of water. Sing to her, it will make her feel better – get her to join in. alright? I'll be waiting for you on Skype when her contractions get closer, ok? For now go get your guitar"

"Thanks Harriet." He hung up, dialling a different number.

"Mph?"

"Chris! Wake up, I need a favour"

"Does it have to be at four in the morning?" he grumbled, running his hands through his hair

"Lee has gone into labour and I don't want to leave her here by herself. Can you go to my house and grab some stuff?"

"Holy shit, now?" Chris nearly fell out of bed, wide awake after that little shock "yeah, sure. Just let me grab some clothes and I'll come out. You keep your spare under the plant pot don't you?"

"Yeah"

"What is it you need?"

"My guitar- it's in the living room. Can you get some fresh clothes for us, I'm in the hospital in my pyjamas, whatever you think is best is fine. My laptop as well, I'm going Skype her mum. Some food would be good too – just whatever you can find that doesn't require cooking"

"Alright I'll be there soon. I'm so excited! I'm going to be an uncle!"

"Not yet Chris – need to get through stage one first"

"Ok, I'm going. Give me an hour or so"

"Thanks a million"

"It's no problem" he said hanging up. Darren went back to his wife

"How you doing baby?"

"I'm ok hun"

"I rang your mum – she's going to Skype you when your contractions get closer" she nodded "I asked Chris to get some of our stuff."

"Ok. Let your parents know what's going on too. I'll shout if there's another contraction don't worry"

Chris arrived an hour and a half later, laden with clothes, food and musical instruments.

"Thanks a bunch Chris" Darren said, taking some of the stuff off him.

"How you doing Lee?"

"Fucking great Chris – I'm about force a person out of my vagina a month before he was supposed to come out" Lee had gotten more sarcastic and irritable as each contraction went by, still no less than 20 minutes apart. Chris looked like he was about to say something but Darren put a hand on his arm

"She doesn't mean it. Promise"

"Hm. Anyway, I made you some sandwiches and stuff so you can eat those if you get hungry."

"Thanks. I'm just going to go change into something clean" Chris sat down next to Lee as Darren left the room.

"Why did I get pregnant Chris? What was I thinking?" she groaned at him as he held her hand

"Because you love Dare. Because you wanted a child. Because you thought it would be worth it – and it is. Sure, you might be 'forcing a person out', but you created that person. New life and stuff"

"Eloquent as always" she muttered. "Can you get me some water please?"

"Sure sweetie" Chris got up and went to find her some water.

It took a further three hours for her contractions to get close enough for anything important to happen – Lee was getting more vocal with each contraction, the intensity increasing with each one. Darren and Chris had been singing themselves hoarse the whole time, song after song – some were Darren's and others were just general pop. A midwife had come in and helped her to change into a hospital gown and had been measuring her every now and then. One time Chris happened to be standing behind the midwife and had seen what was going on down there

"Holy shit a vagina". Darren cuffed him around the head

"Don't look at it, idiot!" right now however, Lee's parent's faces were sitting on a table near the bed so that she could see them and she was gripping Chris and Darren's hands so hard they were pretty sure they had broken bones.

"Ok sweetie, with your next contraction I want you to push like your life depends on it" said the midwife calmly. Lee was crying angrily and swears were falling from her mouth. The muscles in her abdomen tensed hard and she pushed for all she was worth

"AARRGGGHHHH! Why the fuck did I let you get me pregnant, you stupid hobbit!" she shouted at Darren "you fucking shit aaaarrgghhh!" Darren had gotten used to her almost constant stream of swearing and insults over the past twenty minutes, and was mildly surprised that she had managed to think up so many. _Her poor parents having to hear her curse like a drunken sailor_, thought Chris

"You need to push again Lee!" Lee was just screaming now as she forced out her son. Her tears had blinded her now, and she could hear her family urging her on. There was sweat dripping from her brown hair and the midwife's voice seemed so far away

"One more time sweetie!"

"Come on Leanne!" her mother called.

"I can't it's too much" she growled out, she was so tired

"Baby, you're not alone! Cause you're here with me!" Darren practically shouted at her, waving at Chris to make him join in. "come on lee!"

"And nothing gonn-aaarrgghhh!" she joined in and then pushed on last time. High pitched cries came from the midwife's end as she wiped the blood covered infant's face. She cut the cord and wrapped up the baby in a white blanket. She stood up and brought the baby over to his father and passed out mother. Darren reached out his hands to take the baby. He looked at his son for the first time and started to cry, much to Chris' amusement. Lee came round quickly, her head snapping up as her legs slumped.

"Look Lee. You did it. He's here" he smiled down at his son

"Really?"

"Yeah" he held out their son to her. Lee's hands were shaking slightly as she took hold of her son. She cradled him in one arm, her other hand moving some of the blanket away

"He looks like you" she smiled at her husband. The baby's hair was all dark and curly like Darren's with shining hazel eyes. His tiny hands reached out. Lee held out a finger so that he could play with it, watching in fascination as his hand instant wrapped around the tip of the digit

"Hello little man" she said quietly. Chris stood up from the other side of the bed

"What are you going to call him?"

"Kaiden" they said in unison.


End file.
